Brian Ortega returned from his first career loss and an extended absence from the cage looking like a new man on Saturday and straight-up put a whipping on Chan Sung Jung. Sup with that??? Plus, we look ahead to UFC 254's man and co-main events. Hype level is high!

Brian Ortega returned from his first career loss and an extended absence from the cage looking like a new man on Saturday and straight-up put a whipping on Chan Sung Jung. Sup with that??? Plus, we look ahead to UFC 254's man and co-main events. Hype level is high!

If what you want out of your UFC content is a no-strings-attached experience where one semi-anonymous dude might do something unbelievably awesome (and terrible) to another semi-anonymous dude then, brother, Saturday night was your JAM. We discuss that and other stuff on this week's CME Proper.

Holly "Holmes" Holm and Carlos "Conduit" Condit both went out there and reminded us who the fuck they were on Saturday. But what now for our two old pals? Plus, the Jon Jones-Israel Adesanya beef gets capital "W" Weird and--oh, look!--another fairly low profile UFC event this weekend.

Here's a taste of Chad's new podcast: Death in the West.

Israel Adesanya froze Paulo Costa like a statue, battered him with leg kicks from range and then toppled him with strikes to the dome piece in the second. It was, in short, exactly the kind of performance you'd want from a budding UFC superstar. Speaking of stars, how about your dude Janny Blackjacks? How long can we reasonably expected him to hang onto the strap?

Colby Covington pretty much shut down Tyron Woodley en route to a fifth-round TKO victory on Saturday night. Then Covington opened his mouth and spewed awful racist bile all over the place during the postfight. You know, like he does. Plus, Donald Cerrone draws Niko Price and, hey, UFC 253 is this weekend!

There were a ton of fights this weekend, and the CME will forego its normal three-round format in order to talk about as many of them as possible. We discuss Michelle Waterson's win over Angela Hill, Ed Herman's Dundasso and those terrible low blows in Bellator, among other things.

Alistair Overeem's late-career dream continues, in the form of a fifth-round TKO over Augusto Sakai. All the props in the world to Overeem for remaking himself as a crafty veteran, but how far can he continue to roll at age 40? Plus, Nick Diaz back? Fight Island back?

Anthony Smith made a somewhat short turnaround after his high-publicized de-toothing by Glover Teixeira back in May, just to return Saturday night to get outpointed by Aleksandar Rakic. Chances are, Smith's not going to be happy with that. Plus, are we seeing the end of the Brutal Bob Lawler Era? And Chad invents a time machine and sends Ben on a mission with an important message for 2010 Alistair Overeem.

Frankie Edgar finally made his bantamweight debut on Saturday and ... well ... it looked a lot like what we've seen from him at every other weight, which is to say quite good, but also prone to producing fights that could go either way. Plus, Ryan Bader finds out why you don't tempt the MMA Gods and--what's this???--some actual UFC vs. Bellator beef?

Stipe Miocic will continue being the man after his unanimous decision victory over Daniel Cormier at UFC 252 concluded that pair's heavyweight title trilogy. As for Cormier? We're not totally sure, though we hope it's something good. Plus, just to add to this event's weirdness, Sean O'Malley's leg went kablooey.

Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier fulfill the trilogy this weekend. Kind of feels like it snuck up on us, no? Plus, we love Derrick Lewis, but is he trying to do too much? And shouldn't some MMA company just give Michael Chandler whatever he wants?

Score one for the grizzled veterans, as Derek Brunson became the first professional fighter to crack the riddle of Edmen Shahbazyan on Saturday night. Plus, chaos ruled at UFC Fight Night 176 and--what's this???--a certified weirdsmobile fight between Derrick Lewis and Aleksei Oleinik is on tap.

Robert Whittaker reasserted himself as one of the UFC's elite middleweights--and reminded us he has no qualms about stomping a motherfucker's knee to shreds. Plus, Shogun and Roger Nog didn't make us sad, while Khamzat Chimaev and Tanner Boser arguably emerged as the Pandemic Era's breakout stars.

Joseph Benavidez likely saw his last, best chance at a UFC title evaporate when he got choked unconscious by new undisputed flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo on Saturday. Plus, what did we miss from Wednesday and -- hoo boy -- the UFC's Yas Island vacay looks to end with a bang.

The legend of Street Jesus collided with the best welterweight in the world at UFC 251 and ... well ... it was a long night in the Bread Game. Plus, Max Holloway maybe got jobbed (or maybe not!) and Petr Yan beat Jose Aldo into a living death there at the end.

Gilbert Burns is out and Jorge Masvidal (probably, almost certainly) in against Kamaru Usman in the UFC 251 main event. It was a circuitous route to the fight that should've been headlining this pay-per-view all along, but all's well that ends well, right. RIGHT?

Dustin Poirier and Dan Hooker went to battle on Saturday in the main event of UFC on ESPN 12. Did Hooker prove he belongs among the lightweight elite? Did Poirier revive his title aspirations? This week, it's an All Questions Considered episode of the CME.

Curtis Blaydes told us exactly what he was going to do to Alexander Volkov on Saturday night and then he went out and did it. He also warned some of you more punch-and-kick-oriented types that you might not like it. One person who didn't? Dana Frederick White Jr., though in fairness it was likely more Blaydes' comments on fighter pay that set the UFC Prez off. Plus, Emmett vs. Burgos slayed and Poirier vs. Hooker is now on deck.

Cynthia Calvillo established herself as a women's flyweight contender with a win over Jessica Eye on Saturday. Would we say she looked ready for Valentina Shevchenko, however? No, we would not. Next up: Curtis Blaydes fights Alexander Volkov, while Dana White says every UFC card is wonderful and if you're a fight fan, you'll watch them all.

Amanda Nunes, the female GOAT, continues to be leaps and bounds ahead of any competition the UFC can find for her. What are you gonna do? Meanwhile, Cody Garbs, Aljo and O'Malley make the case against Aldo. Oh, and Conor McGregor also wants more money and is retired again.

Jon Jones says he's vacating the light heavyweight title and going on hiatus during a public spat over pay with the UFC. Then he's suddenly out in the streets working as a social activist. Plus, Gilbert Burns finally arrives and UFC 250 takes its best shot on PPV.

Apologies from some sound quality issues on this week's show, Co-Mainiacs. Hopefully, you will solider through with us. On this episode, we discuss Conor McGregor continuing to troll the competition, whether Fight Island seems unnecessary now and the UFC scraping together main events like Tyron Woodley vs. Gilbert Burns. 

Alistair Overeem weathered an early storm to defeat Walt Harris by virtue of his wily, veteran guile on Saturday. We discuss that, plus look back at the UFC's weird week in Jacksonville.

When it finally arrived, UFC 249 weekend served-up a downright unwieldy number of storylines. From Jacare's positive coronavirus test to "The Waiver" to Justin Gaethje's surprise destruction of Tony Ferguson, we discourse.

It's here (we think). It's happening (maybe). It's finally going down (in a matter of days). UFC 249 fight week is upon us leading up to Saturday's revamped and (twice) rescheduled fight card. Are you ready? Is the world?

The UFC plans to do three events in Jacksonville, Fla., from May 9-16. Can that be safe? One way or another, we're all going to find out.

We discuss reports of Dana White's recent conference call with fighters booked on upcoming UFC cards, what an epidemiologist told Ben about how the UFC could get back to business in a safe way and what classic fights have listeners been watching to pass the time?

With UFC 249 officially postponed after Disney and ESPN bigwigs pulled the plug on Dana White's Grand Plan to Be a Man, we look at what we learned about White, Disney, ESPN, MMA fans, media and managers. Plus, what will the sport look like when it finally comes back?

We're told UFC 249 is a go. We're told the main event will be Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje. We're told it will be for an interim title. We're told the venue you will be ... wait for it ... "somewhere on EARTH." So, yeah.

Khabib Nurmagomedov is "stuck at home" in Dagestan, which makes him a lot like the rest of us, when you think about it. So, he's probably out, but the UFC insists 249 is still on. Plus, Jon Jones in trouble again.

Well, here's something completely different. This week, from self-isolation and without much MMA happening worldwide, we went back and rewatched UFC 1. It was weird. Then we talked about it.

Both our families are self isolating this week, which causes a number of challenges for the CME podcast. Still, here we discuss Charles Oliveira's win over Kevin Lee at UFC Brasilia, the UFC's weird declaration it will carry on in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and what will ultimately befall UFC London?

Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk tore the house down in their women's strawweight title fight at UFC 248. Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero? Weeeeeell, that's a different story. This week, we discuss those two fights and look ahead to a weekend full of MMA action.

Deiveson Figueiredo smashed UFC Norfolk's main event title fight when he missed weight last week. Then he damn near smashed the whole flyweight division by defeating Joseph Benavidez via second-round TKO. What's do be done? Also, we look ahead to UFC 248's two title fights.

What are Dan Hooker's prospects among the lightweight elite after defeating Paul Felder at UFC Auckland? Can Joseph Benavidez finally make good on his flyweight potential? Are we really doing Cejudo vs. Aldo? And did Ben consume too many edibles before the weekend's big boxing match?

Jan Blachowicz crashes the light heavyweight title picture with his three-minute KO of Corey Anderson, Diego Sanchez mystifies us with an unusual performance against Michel Pereira and, up next week, Paul Felder vs. Dan Hooker.

Jan Blachowicz crashes the light heavyweight title picture with his three-minute KO of Corey Anderson, Diego Sanchez mystifies us with an unusual performance against Michel Pereira and, up next week, Paul Felder vs. Dan Hooker.

How about that UFC 247, eh people? Specifically, how about that thriller main event between Jon Jones and Dominick Reyes? On this episode of the CME, we discuss that fight, the judging controversy that has emerged after it and why Valentina Shevchenko is just too damn good.

Jonny Bones returns for the fourth time in roughly 13 months on Saturday to take on Dominick Reyes at UFC 247. If he wins, is this the last time we see Jones at light heavyweight? Can Reyes pull off the impossible? Is there anything else of interest on this card? These and other questions await.

Curtis Blaydes looked good en route to second round TKO victory over Junior dos Santos Saturday at UFC: Raleigh. Yet, is there a huge, Francis Ngannou-shaped roadblock between him and the title? Also, Cris Cyborg pulls off the MMA grand slam and Joe Rogan beefs with ... Stephen A. Smith???

Conor McGregor blew through Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds in the UFC 246 main event, which seemed like exactly what matchmakers and promoters wanted. But with such a top-heavy main card and a $70 price tag, were consumers satisfied with the outcome?

Conor McGregor returns to the cage for the first time since 2018, for a bout against Donald Cerrone at Saturday's UFC 246. What do we expect from Conor and from Cowboy? And what else is worth watching on this card?